Answers to a couple of questions about my Spit:

I forgot to mention that I use "balsa rite" to cover an entire airplane before I iron on the Monokote. I iron it directly over the entire airplane; (I don't just seal the edges then shrink it down with a heat gun.) I seldom have a bubble problem, since the balsa rite "welds" the covering to the surface. (That's not to say "never" have a problem, just "seldom" have a problem.)

I use very little filler, since the covering will lift over filler after awhile. Instead of filler, I "build up" holes and fairings, etc. with scrap balsa, which holds the balsa rite, hence the covering better.

With respect to the wing blisters, Top Flite sometimes gets a little askew with their "details". I chucked the huge oversized blisters in favor of the samller ones, since they looked closer to the pictures I was using in the couple books I had. I did make a mistake with the cannon fairings (made from the lower barrels of 2 large ball point pens) in that I placed them outboard of the .303 machine gun covers, instead of inboard, where they belong. After I realized it, it was too late.

The wing sheeting was very fragile. I had numerous patches all over the place. The Monokote covers them up well, and lends some strength too.

I absolutely agree with the post that any WWII fighter would look better flying with the gear up. I used retracts for a couple years, but just got really tired of the work to re-align them after each flight off our grass field. Life's too short for any self-induced grief. Basically, I'm a "sport flyer", but like to build and fly WWII fighters. This is my compromise.

Adding a picture of my P-39, done in much the same manner as the Spit. Only difference is that the P-39 is all flat Monokote, no paint (except for the ABS parts). Flies like a trainer...only a little faster.